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UPDATE: Afghanistan: Don’t allow warlords to silence Malalai Joya

According to the Defense Committee of Malalai Joya, on 14 April 2006, the staff of Malalai Joya's office in Farah province uncovered a plot planned by Joya's opponents against her.

A man who introduced himself as Engineer Sayed Najibullah came from Herat to meet Malalai Joya. He said he was a representative of a German NGO's envoy named Mr. Thomson. When he was told that she was in Kabul attending sessions of the parliament, he requested to speak with the office staff. So the supervisors of the Literacy Courses and Hamoon Clinic met with him.

The man pretended to be supporter of Joya and was interested in helping her. He claimed that his NGO had previously funded Joya's projects but they had heard some reports that she has not utilized the amount for the welfare projects and instead has deposited the amounts in foreign banks and has purchased some luxurious buildings. When he faced the incisive reaction of staff that she hasn't received such funds and these are inimical accusations against her, he asked the staff to sign a document which said that Malalai Joya would soon receive a large amount of funds!

While talking to him, the office staff realized that he was a suspicious person and must have been sent to spy or for some other conspiracy. To have proof, they filmed the whole meeting with the man. The next day, he went to the office to apparently bring some computers and sewing machines and promised that he would return with more stuff that evening.

Joya's office urgently informed the Farah Police. In addition, they also got in touch with Joya's supporters in Herat explaining his characteristics, asked them to try to find this man.

On the 16th of April, the man was identified by Joya's supporters in Herat and with the help of a female member of the provincial assembly of Farah, he was handed over to the Heart police. During the interrogation in Herat, keeping in mind the paradoxical answers of this man, the police realized that behind this case there may be a political conspiracy against Joya. So they handover him to KHAD —the intelligence service— in Herat and KHAD promised to complete the investigation within 24 hours and update Joya's office about the results.

Finally KHAD announced that it seemed as though the suspect had been assigned by the Taliban to plot against Malalai Joya, claiming that she has received 12 million dollars and has spent it for her personal use in order to defame her.

But when Joya's office denied the Taliban's involvement and insisted that the "Northern Alliance" and government officials must be behind the case, KHAD imparted a part of Najibullah's confession that he was an old hand of "Jamiat-e-Islami Afghanistan" (the main group within Northern Alliance led by Burhanuddin Rabbani) and in the past also had relations with Ahmad Shah Masoud and Fahim. He had also confessed that he has received Afs. 300,000 --equal to US$6,000— to carry out the plot against Joya.

The Office of Malalai Joya and "Defense Committee of Malalai Joya" believe that KHAD is hiding the real facts and doesn't want to expose the names of government officials who are involved. We believe that a number of high state officials are involved in the case. It is clear from the mobile number that was found on this man that for the past several days he had been in contact with the mobile number 0799-025108 in Kabul that belongs to a Jamiat-e-Islami element, who is an important employee of the "Department of Assessment and Analysis of Terrorism" in the Interior Ministry of Afghanistan.

Due to the frank and courageous revelations of Joya, her enemies after some unsuccessful attempts on her life, are now trying different ways to start treasonous propaganda against her. But these enemies of the people and country don't know that for our people Joya has risen as the hope and star of resistance and courage and the more they plot against her the more she will be embedded in the soul and heart of our devastated people.

The freedom-loving, democrat and patriotic individuals and forces will continue to confound the treasonous conspiracies against Malalai Joya by their moral and practical support.